Ariane 5 ECA launch interrupted

The Ariane 5 ECA rocket would launch today from the European Spaceport in French Guiana, but 59 seconds before the launch window opened the take-off was interrupted.

It could be restarted at any moment before the time window closes.

The countdown was stopped when two red lights were seen lighting up on a control board. It was not immediately clear whether this constituted a serious problem or whether officials were simply being cautious.

The launch window for the Ariane 5 ECA rocket is open from 20:49 CET until 22:10 CET.

Update: News has reached us that Ariane 5 ECA took off successfully - 26 minutes after launch the XTAR-EUR was separated from the rocked and five minutes later the SLOSHSAT satellite also detached successfully